Thursday, January 27, 2011

Choices

I've had choices...Since the day I was born...There were voices...That told me right from wrong...If I had listened...No, I wouldn't be here today... Living and dying with the choices I've made...

I was tempted...by an early age I found... I liked drinkin'...Oh, and I never turned it down...There were loved-ones...But I turned them all away...Now I'm living and dying with the choices I've made...

I guess I'm payin'.... For the things that I have done...If I could go back..Oh, Lord knows I'd run...But I'm still losin'...This game of life I play... Living and dying with the choices I've made....


George Jones (from the song: "Choices")

Choices....

They built a new Dunkin' Donuts close to my work. I love Dunkin' Donuts!... They built it right across the parking lot from "24-Hour Fitness".... I call that,....irony. I usually stop at the big double D at least once a week and get my favorite,... the Toasted Coconut Cake Donut. And, every time, I look across the parking lot and see the Fitness place and feel this twinge (not a big twinge)... but a "twinge" of guilt. I could "choose" to be part of the 24-Hour Fitness brigade rather than the Dunkin' Brigade. The fact that the donut is less than a buck and the fitness club is $300 a MONTH might have something to do with my choosing to pursue the path of fattiness (not to mention pursuit of "donut happiness".... rather than being the ideal physical specimen. (Though I have seen some going out the door of 24-Hour who could use a good dose of donut here and there)....



Choices....

I read somewhere that life is just a series of choices. Hopefully, we make some good ones. A lot of the times we do not, we choose things that take us down the wrong path. Just like George Jones, sometimes we choose things that set-in to ruin our lives... drugs, alcohol, etc. ...

Nobody I know sets out to be an addict. I've never seen a little kid tell his parents, "When I grow up I want to be a stoned-out drug addict... or maybe a drunk.... and, by the way mom an dad,... can I borrow a few dollars to get started?"

Choices....



The hardest part about being a counselor is convincing someone that, as long as they're still breathing, they are able to make choices. The choice doesn't have to be "put the bottle down and walk away and never pick it up again." The choice is a lot simpler. Hard, but simpler. You have the choice to start making small decisions that will, eventually, lead to freedom.


Small choices: Admit powerlessness. Accept good counsel. Get into fellowship with fellow travelers (like A.A or N.A.).... Attend meetings. Begin to take small steps. Get a sponsor. Begin learning to "trust" someone. Be open. Be honest..... be "willing"....





Choices....





Even if we've made some very bad choices in life, there is a God of grace who is willing to meet us,...redeem us,... set us on a good path....

An old friend of mine made one bad choice which caused him to become a quadriplegic for life.


I dare say that most people would have let that bad choice become a black cloud of depression for life. But, ...this remarkable man went on to make some really good choices. He made some very good friends, .... he pursued art. He was a painter and he painstakingly created some beautiful watercolor paintings. He had art exhibits. He went back to school and got an art degree. Helped others to see beauty in art and nature. This was a man I seldom saw who didn't have a smile on his face or an encouraging word to say. He never lost his faith in the mercy and goodness of his God. An amazing man.

Choices....


"Living and dying by the choices me make".... small ones, ....big ones,... daily choices...


Sometimes it's just Donuts Vs. Carrots.....

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Windshield Wipers

Robert Kearns changed my life.....

And.... your life....



Back in the 1950's Robert Kearns got a brilliant idea one day when he was driving through a rainstorm. He kept having to stop and start his windshield wipers as the rain came down either heavier or tapered off to almost nothing. His idea?... Why not invent a windshield wiper that you could control to come on "intermittently"... constant in a downpour but perhaps just once every few seconds when there was only a light rain or mist?...

So... he did. He called it The Blinking Eye Windshield Wiper. Since Robert was an inventor at heart it didn't take him long to get the electronics just right...and installed on his own car.

The next step?... Take it to FORD MOTOR CO...... And he did.

They were impressed. They wanted to know how it worked... but, Robert wouldn't show them. He simply wanted them to buy his invention and give him a small cut for every one they sold.

They told him they would think about it. And they thought about it.... and thought about it.

Robert waited, but never heard back from FORD. But, about a year later Ford came out with the brand new Mustang, ... and, lo and behold,... one big selling feature of the new Mustang... the brand-new "Intermittent Windshield Wiper!"



Robert was crushed.....and he was mad. They had stolen his idea.



So... Robert hired himself a lawyer and started to pursue a lawsuit against The Ford Motor Company. The law firm he hired was really good. They filed a lawsuit and soon they got a really good response from Ford. Ford offered to settle for 250,000 dollars. Remember, this was in the early 60's. That was a lot of money back then. (I wouldn't mind someone offering me that kind of money today)....

But, Robert balked. He said it wasn't enough. His pride was at stake and he wasn't about to sell out for such a low figure. The law firm he hired was furious that he wouldn't take the deal.

So,.. Robert fired the law firm and started a long, solo battle against Ford Motors. He started studying up on law suits, spent hours pouring through law books at the library. Robert became obsessed with his invention and in wanting to get notoriety for his wonderful invention. He filed legal briefs and began the process to take Ford to court.

One day he got a surprise visitor..... a representative from one of Fords lawyers. Ford didn't want to fight anymore. The visitor told Robert that Ford wanted to give him 1,000,000 dollars to settle out of court. One MILLION dollars!.....

Robert told him to get out!....

Robert was determined that his pride was at stake and it was no longer about the money. He was insulted that Ford has stolen his idea, .... his baby.... the Blinking Eye...

So the lawsuit continued....

And years passed....

And he was so obsessed with justice that he neglected his family.

His wife divorced him.

His children grew-up without him around. They became teenagers. They became young adults.

Robert pursued the lawsuit.

Finally, after so many years of wrangling, a court-date was set...the court was ready to rule on his case.

Ford balked again. They approached Robert one last time. They offered to settle out-of-court for 30,000,000..... 30 MILLION dollars!.....

Robert told them no. He was ready to do battle in court. He was ready to get credit for his invention.

The case was heard, the evidence was presented.... and, lo and behold.... Robert won!...

Robert won..... 10,000,000 dollars...10 MILLION dollars..... 20 million than Ford had offered to settle the suit for.

But Robert was happy. He had won. He had salvaged his pride. The world would know that HE invented the Intermittent Windshield Wiper.



Did YOU know that Robert Kearns invented the Intermittent Windshield Wiper?

Nope?..... Well... me neither. Neither has 99.99999999% of the world's population. Nobody cares, really. Only Robert cared.

He cared so much that he sacrificed his life with his wife and children. Now he was rich.... and alone....

I don't know if Robert ever figured out that there is actually a moral to his story.

Sometimes "pride" can become an addiction... it can become just as obsessive as heroin, or alcohol,...or sex.... or (fill in the blank)....

Addiction is often described as an "obsession".

All of us have to be on our guard against anything that becomes such an obsession that we're willing to lose everything that really matters in order to obtains something, that in the long run, doesn't really matter that much.

Pride.

Robert died a rich man.

OR..... did he.....?

You decide....

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Racism

In the 1960's a Southern church deacon-board mobilized lookout squads, and on Sundays, these took turns patrolling the entrances to the church lest any black "trouble-makers" try to integrate them. The church printed some cards that they would hand out to any "blacks" who might appear at their door.
It read:
"Believing your motives to be ulterior and foreign to the teaching of God's word, we cannot extend a welcome to you and respectfully request you to leave the premises quietly. Scripture does NOT teach "the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God." He is the Creator of all, but only the father of those who have been regenerated.
If any of you is here with a sincere desire to know Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, we will be glad to deal individually with you from the Word of God.".....the Pastor and Deacons...

Philip Yancey, in his wonderful book, "What's So Amazing About Grace" writes....
"I grew up a racist. Although I am not yet fifty-years old, I remember when the South practiced a perfectly legal form of apartheid. Stores in downtown Atlanta had three rest rooms: White Men, White Women, and Colored. Gas stations had two drinking fountains, one for Whites and one for Colored. Motels and restaurants served white patrons only, and when the the Civil Rights Act made such discrimination illegal, many owners shuttered their establishments.
We used to call Martin Luther King Jr. "Martin Lucifer Coon." We said that King was a card-carrying Communist, a Marxist agent who merely posed as a minister. Not until much later was I able to appreciate the moral strength of the man who, perhaps more than any other person, kept the South from outright racial war."........ Yancey, from the chapter, The Arsenal Of Grace.

Racism.
Unfortunately, it's still with us today. We've learned to practice it in perhaps less obvious, gentler ways, but it still exists in a lot of our churches, businesses, politics....
I, too, like Philip Yancey, grew up in a racially-charged atmosphere. My father was a racist and he passed down to me a lot of negative feelings towards those of a different color. It wasn't until the 9th grade that I found myself in an integrated school. The racial tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I made no black friends and didn't really "want" to make any black friends. I look back on a lot of my youth as one who was clueless about the continuing struggle of the Black Community, not just for "equality", but for simple human respect and decency.
As I have studied the Bible, I have, to my relief and joy, found that the "Deacons" from the South really didn't know much about God and His Grace, and had somehow, in all their study, completely skipped over the 17th chapter of the Book of Acts.... the "acts" of the first apostles, those who followed Jesus Christ through his life, death and resurrection.

So, the struggle continues, whether we care to recognize it or not. Fortunately, as the generations pass, the racism of the 60's lessens. My own children have found and embraced Black friends, Asian friends, Latino friends, friends with mixed marriages and their beautiful children....
I pray they don't take this for granted, for it is a sign of true "grace",... to look beyond skin color or national boundaries to embrace all of God's children. We can look to men like Martin Luther King Jr. as the pioneers that they truly were.... men and women who struggled for justice and equality, but did so by walking the God-ordained road of peace and non-violence.

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. He is not served by human hands as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives "ALL" men life and breath and everything else. For from one man he made very nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for then and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one for us. For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, "We are His Offspring."......Acts 17:24-28

We honor God when we honor one another......

Monday, January 10, 2011

Prayer

Prayer: talking to God...
Seems like a daunting task.
In Alcoholics Anonymous, (or any of the other 12-Step Programs), one of the things your are told to do is to have a prayer life... to begin to speak to your "Higher Power".
Folks who have never prayed before find it a struggle because they aren't aware of the nature of God and the freedom of The Spirit.
One of my favorite authors is Brennan Manning. He wrote a book called, "The Ragamuffin Gospel". It is on my list of top-ten books that I recommend for people to read. Brennan's main emphasis is on the grace of God.
In this blog I would like to tempt you (in a good way) by giving you a taste of his writing.... in this instance, on the subject of prayer...

"Let us suppose you give your three-year-old daughter a coloring book and a box of crayons for her birthday. The following day, with the proud smile only a little one can muster, she presents her first pictures for inspection. She has colored the sun black, the grass purple, and the sky green. In the lower right-hand corner she has added woozy wonders of floating slabs and hovering rings: on the left, a panoply of colorful, carefree squiggles. You marvel at her bold strokes and intuit that her psyche is railing against its own cosmic puniness in the face of a big, ugly world. Later at the office, you share with your staff your daughter's first artistic effort and you make veiled references to the early work of Van Gogh.
A little child cannot do a bad coloring: nor can a child of God do a bad prayer. A father is delighted when his little one, leaving off her toys and friends, runs to him and climbs into his arms. As he holds his little one close to him, he cares little whether the child is looking around, her attention flitting from one things to another, or just settling down to sleep. Essentially the child is choosing to be with her father, confident of the love, the care, the security that is hers in those arms.
Our prayer is much like that. We settle down in our Father's arms, in His loving hands. Our mind, our thoughts, our imagination may flit about here and there; we might even fall asleep; but essentially we are choosing for this time to remain intimately with our Father, giving ourselves to Him, receiving His love and care, letting Him enjoy us as He will. It is very simple prayer. It is very childlike prayer. It is prayer that opens us up to all the delights of the kingdom."

----Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

Sometimes I really struggle with prayer. Sometimes I'm ambivalent about praying. Sometimes I take prayer for granted.
Sometimes my best prayers have simply started by saying, "God, I don't feel like talking to You today".... or, "God, I'm in a bad mood, so if I'm going to pray about it You really have to help me."

Prayer: Think of it as a conversation. A conversation where the other party (God) already knows your struggles and your frailness and even your often inability to express exactly what you are feeling, exactly what you're trying to say.
How often in my own life have I started out a prayer by simply saying, "God,...I really messed things up this time....."
And then I just start talking.....
Perhaps, to God, It's like I'm painting a picture with my words. Like the little child in Brennan's story,... painting the sun green, the flowers are black and pink and my rendition of the ocean is at the top of the page rather than at the bottom.
It doesn't matter to Him... just as long as I'm sharing my painting with Him. Maybe He'll tack it up in His Heavenly office and show it to the angels....saying something like, "Look what my kid did!..... Isn't it great!"........
And the angels will say in return, "Yeah...it looks like a real Picasso....all kinds of crazy... but really valuable!".....:-)